Archive for Kevin Sweeney

How To Mount A Tax Defense For Unreported Crypto Income

On February 23, Coinbase, a popular U.S.-based digital currency exchange, notified 13,000 of its customers that it would be turning over their account information to the IRS. The notice was precipitated by a U.S. District Court ruling in a protracted John Doe Summons battle between the company and the IRS concerning accounts with potentially unreported cryptocurrency income.

Ultimately, the Court found that the IRS was entitled to the information.

The Coinbase summons battle is reminiscent of aggressive tax enforcement efforts pursued by the Department of Justice to ferret out U.S. taxpayers holding unreported income and assets abroad. That initiative also began with the issuance of a John Doe summons, but to a Swiss bank, UBS, for unreported foreign account information.

The IRS and DOJ then quickly expanded to other foreign banks and other countries. With the offshore voluntary disclosure program (“OVDP”) winding down, there are strong indications that the IRS will be turning its attention to unreported cryptocurrency transactions.

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Written by | Posted in TaxConnections

New Tax Bill May Eliminate Right To Deduct Fees Expended “In Connection With The Determination, Collection, Or Refund of any Tax”

All taxpayers, whether individuals or not, may deduct as business expenses the costs relating to tax matters that are ordinary and necessary in the conduct of their trade or business under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code.

However, certain non-business expenses are also deductible under Section 212, “Expenses for production of income.”  Notwithstanding the somewhat limiting title of Section 212, subsection (3) currently permits a deduction for non-business expenses that can have nothing to do with the production of income, namely expenses paid or incurred “in connection with the determination, collection or refund of any tax.”  Read More

Written by | Posted in Deductions • Tax Cuts and Jobs Act